Head of Engineering (d/f/m)

About the role

<h2><strong>Head of Engineering (d/f/m)</strong></h2> <p>Hamburg, hybrid</p> <p><em>DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention services across Brand &amp; Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology &amp; Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Meta, eBay, and OpenAI. We have been certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.</em></p> <h2><strong>JOB PURPOSE</strong></h2> <p><em>This role is part of our </em><strong><em>Experience &amp; Engineering</em></strong><em> team in Germany. We combine technology and experience design to create emotive yet conversion-focused ideas, products, and campaigns at scale and speed. Our specialty is digital experiences and communication that change perceptions and shape new behaviours to make a difference in the market.</em></p> <p>In this key leadership position, you are responsible for the strategic direction and growth of our Engineering teams. You will lead a team of approximately 7-9 professionals, including <strong>Team Leads and Senior Engineers.</strong> Your focus shifts from writing code to <strong>building systems</strong>: you will optimize processes, develop the next generation of leaders, and actively drive the cultural change toward <strong>AI-driven development</strong>.</p> <h2><strong>WHAT YOU’LL DO:</strong></h2> <ul> <li><strong>Leadership of Leaders: </strong>You lead, coach, and mentor Team Leads and Senior Engineers. You own their career paths and empower them to lead their own sub-teams to excellence.</li> <li><strong>AI Change Management: </strong>You define the roadmap for integrating Artificial Intelligence into the daily engineering lifecycle (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Agentic Workflows). You act as a change agent, transforming our workflows for maximum efficiency and innovation.</li> <li><strong>Operational Excellence: </strong>You take full ownership of your department's operational performance (resource planning, budget monitoring, utilization) and ensure a profitable and scalable engineering organization.</li> <li><strong>Strategic Partnering: </strong>You work closely with Directors and VPs to sharpen DEPT®’s technological vision in the DACH region and act as a high-level technical sparring partner for our key accounts.</li> <li><strong>Cultural Stewardship: </strong>You foster an inclusive, motivating, high-performance culture and establish modern department rituals that promote knowledge sharing and innovation.</li> </ul> <h2><strong>WHAT YOU BRING:</strong></h2> <ul> <li><strong>Proven People Manager: </strong>You have a track record of leading teams in a "manager-of-managers" structure or significant experience leading larger engineering departments.</li> <li><strong>Change Agent:</strong> You are passionate about the potential of AI in the software lifecycle and have a clear vision of how modern engineering organizations must evolve.</li> <li><strong>Frontend Background:</strong> You possess a deep technical history in frontend development, allowing you to validate architectural decisions and act as a mentor on eye-level.</li> <li><strong>Business Acumen:</strong> You understand the economic drivers of an agency or consultancy and can translate KPIs into actionable success.</li> <li><strong>Communication: </strong>You are a confident communicator in both German and English, able to present complex technical topics to both stakeholders and clients.</li> </ul> <h2><strong>WE OFFER:</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Flexible, hybrid working policy (1-2 days at the office, depending on location);</li> <li>Company pension scheme.</li> <li>Lease bike options / JobRad and 25% subsidy for the Deutschlandticket.</li> <li>Occasional breakfast/lunch at the office, Smoothie Tuesdays.</li> <li>Stay happy and healthy with a contribution to your health thr

Skills